Firestone Walker Nitro Merlin Pint Night

With a new ingredient and a bit of wizardry, Firestone Walker’s Velvet Merlin oatmeal stout has been transformed into a mind-blowing mouthful known as Nitro Merlin Milk Stout. To commemorate the addition of our second nitro tap, the Dugout is featuring this new Firestone Walker brew with a Pint Night. Buy a pint, keep the glass!

Nitro Merlin Milk Stout is brewed exactly the same as Firestone Walker’s winter seasonal Velvet Merlin oatmeal stout, but with one critical twist: the inclusion of non-fermentable lactose sugar (a.k.a. milk sugar), the ingredient that transforms the beer into a milk stout.

“With a traditional dry stout like Velvet Merlin, you’re using these roasted barleys that add astringency, with a fairly high hopping rate that adds bitterness,” said brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “But when you add milk sugar into the mix, you counterbalance those more astringent qualities. It’s a lot like adding cream to your dark roasted coffee.”

He added, “The result is a stout that is still roasty, but with this mellow sweetness and a roundness of body that is only enhanced by the nitro format.”

Want to know more about what transforms a stout into a milk stout? Find out here.